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| Chad, Pokey, .......
I would like to clarify what Chad wrote....
Conservation Tillage is the "umbrella" term used to describe what we are describing here. Conservation Tillage is any kind of farming system where at least 30% of the soil surface is covered by residue at planting time. All the other terms mentioned by Chad are variations of Conservation Tillage.
No-Tillage is exactly that - no tillage. Technically, strip tillage, zone tillage, ridge tillage are not "No-Till" but they are Conservation Tillage.
Direct seeding is a term we do not use here. However, from what I gather reading on this forum, direct seeding is the same as No-Tillage.
"What determines who/when to use each one?" Some of it is regional differences. Much of the decision is related to soil type, topography, etc. Some of it is related to the "latest fad". Realize that strip tillage, zone tillage, ridge tillage are slightly different concepts and require different equipment. So a farmer is typically not going to have equipment for all 3 systems. They will choose what they think is best, and "go for it". Sometimes they think "this is not working for me", so they get rid of that equipment and try a different system.
With regards to compaction, I think everyone realizes that any time you run a piece of machinery across a field, you will be causing compaction - to a great extent, or to a minimal extent. Some guys look at this and say: we are going to cause compaction, so let's restrict it to only certain areas of the field, and try to have other areas with no compaction and encourage roots to grow in those areas. Thus, the concept of controlled traffic....... trying to have the equipment tires/tracks run in the same area all the time.
Think about an orchard - trees are planted in rows. Then the equipment is run between the rows. The trees are always growing in areas with no wheel traffic. This would be a type of controlled traffic.
Corn and bean farmers using controlled traffic would not be having the "dead space" between rows, as you do with fruit trees; however, the concept is the same - minimizing traffic where the roots are growing
I hope this helps some.
Edited by martin 8/24/2006 08:37
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Wanting to learn the no-till language.
